European Factors to Watch-Shares to rise after China growth boost

(Adds futures, detail, company news)
EDINBURGH, July 16 (Reuters) - European stocks were seen rising on Wednesday
after Chinese growth slightly beat expectations, hinting at resilient demand in
the world's largest metals consumer.
The world's second-largest economy grew 7.5 percent in April-June from a
year earlier, the government statistics bureau said on Wednesday, just ahead of
a median forecast of 7.4 percent in a Reuters poll.
In a further boost to resource-related sectors, global miner Rio Tinto
said expansion work at its mines and productivity gains led to a sharp
rise in iron ore output as it steps up shipments to Chinese steel mills.
Rio is a top pick of U.S. investment bank Citi, which cites China as a risk
to its positive outlook for miners but adds that "recent Chinese economic data
shows signs of a broad stabilisation of growth momentum".
"Our Mining team highlights that industrial commodity demand is growing and,
despite a difficult start to 2014, it broadly expects an acceleration in
consumption into Q4," analysts at Citi said in a note.
At 0607 GMT, futures for the Euro STOXX 50, Britain's FTSE 100
and France's CAC were between 0.1 percent and 0.3 percent
higher.
Any gains on Wednesday would help recoup losses made in the previous
session, where declining investor morale hit Germany's benchmark DAX
equity index and worries over Portugal's Banco Espirito Santo weakened
the Lisbon market.
On Tuesday the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 0.4 percent
to 1,358.31 points, while the euro zone's blue-chip Euro STOXX 50 index
closed 1 percent lower at 3,153.75 points.
With no miners in the index, Germany's DAX was again set to underperform,
with futures on the index down 0.1 percent at 0607 GMT.
This week also sees earnings season in Europe pick up momentum, with the
most accurate analysts expecting STOXX Europe 600 companies to miss consensus
estimates for quarterly earnings by 1.3 percent.
Despite pessimism heading into earnings, Dutch chip toolmaker ASML
and Swedish telecom Tele2 both reported better-than-expected
quarterly earnings, although both companies were cautious over their full-year
outlooks.
Europe bourses in 2014: (link.reuters.com/pad95v)
Asset performance in 2014: (link.reuters.com/rav46v)
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MARKET SNAPSHOT AT 0619 GMT:
LAST PCT CHG NET CHG
S&P 500 1,973.28 -0.19 % -3.82
NIKKEI 15379.3 -0.1 % -15.86
MSCI ASIA EX-JP 499.02 -0.17 % -0.87
EUR/USD 1.3566 -0.04 % -0.0005
USD/JPY 101.68 0 % 0.0000
10-YR US TSY YLD 2.532 -- -0.02
10-YR BUND YLD 1.204 -- 0.00
SPOT GOLD $1,298.50 0.34 % $4.40
US CRUDE $100.42 0.46 % 0.46
> GLOBAL MARKETS-Asia stocks manage muted cheer for China growth
> US STOCKS-S&P 500, Nasdaq dip on Yellen's comments
> Nikkei edges down; China economic data gets muted reaction
> Treasuries flat on steady policy message from Fed's Yellen
> FOREX-Dollar bulls hear hawkish hint from Yellen
> PRECIOUS-Gold steadies on strong dollar, interest rate fears
> METALS-China data burnishes metal outlook; Shanghai zinc gains
> Brent edges above $106 on China growth, oil demand figures
COMPANY NEWS
RIO TINTO
World no. 2 iron ore miner Rio Tinto said expansion work at
its mines and productivity gains led to a sharp rise in iron ore output as it
steps up shipments to Chinese steel mills.
DEUTSCHE BANK
A Tokyo judge on Wednesday handed a former Deutsche Bank salesman a
suspended prison sentence for bribing a pension fund official with dinners and
golf outings, and said more senior officials at the bank had "tacitly condoned"
the practice.
DEUTSCHE TELEKOM
Sprint Corp and Deutsche Telekom unit T-Mobile US are working
on a plan to raise about $10 billion in an auction of wireless airwaves, the
online version of The Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with
the matter.
Separately, billionaire John Paulson, whose hedge fund is the No.4
shareholder in T-Mobile US, is backing a potential merger of T-Mobile US and
Sprint, the online version of The Wall Street Journal reported, citing an
interview.
CASINO
The French retailer predicted its operating profit would rise this year
after it posted forecast-beating sales in the second quarter led by its top
market of Brazil.
ASML
The Dutch manufacturer of tools for semiconductor chip makers forecast 2014
sales of around 5.6 billion euros. It guided for third-quarter sales of around
1.4 billion euros and a gross margin of around 42 percent.
AIRBUS
Qatar Airways will seek compensation from Airbus for delays in delivery of
three of the European planemaker's A380 superjumbos, the Gulf carrier's CEO
said.
VOLVO
The world's second biggest truck maker should be able to finish off 2014
with a double-digit operating margin, one of its biggest investors was quoted as
saying. "Our investment is entirely okay, but it can be much, much better,"
Christer Gardell, co-founder of activist investor Cevian Capital, told business
daily Dagens Industri.
TELE2
The Swedish telecom operator posted second-quarter core earnings above
market expectations but said its revenue outlook for the year had been hit by a
devaluation of the Kazakh currency and lower handset sales.
(Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Francesco Canepa and Prateek
Chatterjee)